Over a quarter of avoidable repeats were due to an expired blood spot card or a missing or inaccurate baby's NHS number, date of birth or sample date.

We have changed the card to cut down on these kinds of common avoidable repeats.

All’s well that ENDS well

This phrase will help you remember to fill in some key details on the blood spot card

Using this well-known phrase will help you remember to avoid making 4 common mistakes:

E - Expiry date (do check that the card hasn't expired!)

N - baby’s NHS number

D - baby’s Date of birth

S - Sample date

Reducing avoidable repeats will:

prevent delays in treating babies with serious conditions

prevent worry for parents and distress to babies

save the NHS approximately £100 per repeat (up to £20 million per year)

Learn more

The newborn blood spot card module, which explains about the new card and what happens to blood spots after screening, has been updated. An interactive card shows how to complete all the new fields correctly and why they are important.

The newborn blood spot conditions module has also been updated. It merges the previous e-learning unit and explains the 9 rare but serious conditions which newborn blood spot screening covers.